Kudos! Maharashtra Is Setting Up A Swachh Bharat World University To Focus On Sanitation, Cleanliness & Environment

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government¡¯s signature Swachh Bharat programme, which is aimed at improving cleanliness and sanitation on a nationwide scale, will see a boost as the Government of Maharashtra has decided to set up ¡®Swachh Bharat World University¡¯ to mark Mahatma Gandhi¡¯s 150th birth anniversary.

The University, according to the Hindu Business Line will be set up in Wardha, which is located about 750 kms away from Mumbai.

The University will reportedly focus on research studies in sanitation, cleanliness and environment.

A seven-member committee headed by the Minister of Education Vinod Tawde has been set up to take the task ahead. The committee, The Hindu Business Line reported, will conduct a study on the requirements of the University, including land, basic infrastructure and manpower and submit a report in two months.

The resolution by Maharashtra government comes at a time when the state is faced with rapid urbanisation as villages are fast being converted into cities and cities into metropolitan areas.

The problems related to garbage and uncleanliness has acquired a serious proportion and it has now begun to affect people¡¯s health and environment. This is not the story of Maharashtra alone but nations across the globe are faced with severe challenges that arise out of the increasing pollution and degradation of land.

These problems are coupled with the challenges of health hazards that are posed by pollution and the presence of dust particles in the air. In cities such as Delhi, reports have pointed out that nobody can be a non-smoker as breathing the very air of the capital city is equivalent to smoking 11 cigarettes a day.

The government¡¯s aim therefore is to set up a world class university that will focus on cleanliness and sanitation research and lay the framework to tackling such crises in the future.

The move is particularly important as despite increasing environment concerns there are but very few premiere seats of higher education that are aimed at training people to combat the implications of such problems.

Maharashtra has also reportedly claimed that it has contributed in a big way to Prime Minister Narendra Modi¡¯s Swachh Bharat campaign and now by establishing the University, it will play a pioneering role in the research.

Mahatma Gandhi¡¯s Sevagram Ashram and the Institute of Gandhian Studies are both located in Wardha and this University in the making is another feather on its cap.